Autumn is such a popular time to get married. How could you resist those beautiful shades of scarlet red, burnt orange and golden yellow? The main issue? The rain. You can’t predict when it’ll be clear long enough to have an outdoor wedding ceremony. That’s where I come in :)

I can paint your original outdoor location as the background of your ceremony if it does rain. That’s the beauty of having a live wedding painter!

Three of the weddings below were moved indoors due to the rain. Can you tell which ones?

March

April

May

Bendooley Estate in Bowral. The stables and the book barn.

Same venue, different weddings. I’ll be returning here two more times this year, so I’ll update this post with those weddings!

Vendors were given delicious meals and a table in a separate room to eat. I loved it!

It’s amazing being about to paint weddings from other cultures and experience how they celebrate the happy couple. Hindu weddings are so vibrant and joyful with lots of music, dancing and sacred rituals.

Three of these weddings were in the same venue.

Three of these weddings used the same mandap. The golden mandap took so long to paint, I’m actually glad I haven’t had to paint it again despite being so beautiful.

I’ve organised my Hindu live wedding paintings according to the moments I captured:

Tying of the tali/mangalsutra/the sacred golden necklace, which the groom ties around the bride’s neck towards the end of the ceremony.

Both of these weddings involved the bride completing a saree change during the ceremony. In the first painting, the bride changed from a blue to an orange saree. In the second, the bride changed from a white to a red saree. The first painting was my first Hindu wedding ever, so I didn’t know this and had painted her in blue first, then had to paint over her after she changed.

Walking around the sacred fire with the groom leading the bride.

Wedding couple announcement while holding hands.

First dance.

I’ll be updating this with other Hindu weddings I do in future! Until then, for any readers out there, I’d love to know:

Which dress is your fave?
Which moment is your fave?
And which mandap is your fave?

In late 2024, Ash asked me to do an A3 drawing that combined several photos of her with her partner, his late mother and their two Great Danes. I had too much going on with caring for a new baby, other commissions and getting back into live wedding paintings. So, I unfortunately turned her down as I couldn’t complete it in time for Christmas.

Fast forward to early 2025, Ash returned with an April deadline - her partner’s mother’s 10 year anniversary of her death. I created two mock ups on Photoshop for an A3 drawing and a 20x24in painting. We both fell in love with the painting mock up and I got started straight away.

The more photos I need to combine, the trickier it gets. You need to consider perspective, scale, colour temperature and lighting, and make sure they all match in a natural and believable way. I also had to create a body for Dylan’s mother, since all the photos Ash could secretly source were of her head and shoulders.

It took about a month to complete, which is longer than usual. I could only paint for an hour or two late at night in the dark corner of the bedroom beside the bed where my baby would sleep. We also went on a week long cruise, which was a really nice break! I still can’t believe I managed to complete it on time.

Here’s the completed painting in acrylics on canvas. I wanted to make the overall painting warmer with a softer background to bring all the focus to the foreground. Ash picked it up, gifted it to Dylan for his mother’s birthday instead and now it’s hanging in their living room.

These are the commissions I enjoy doing and I’ve done quite a few of them. They’re very challenging but so rewarding. I love that I can use my skills as an artist to combine photos together and bring your loved ones back in such a unique and special way.